UKBA caseload 'out of control'

Friday 9 November 2012 11:10 BST

Keith Vaz warned the backlog of cases faced by the UK Border Agency is 'spiralling out of control'

The number of outstanding immigration and asylum cases rose by 25,000 in three months and is "spiralling out of control", making the total caseload the equivalent of the population of Iceland, an MP has said.

More than 300,000 cases needed to be dealt with at the end of June, up 9% over the previous three months, the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee said. But clearing the backlog should not be a rushed job done without the proper checks, the committee's report on the UK Border Agency (UKBA) warned.

Keith Vaz, the committee's chairman, said: "There are now about the same number of cases awaiting resolution by UKBA as there are people living in Iceland. The backlog is spiralling out of control."

The troubled agency had 302,064 cases to investigate, trace or conclude by the end of June - more than 25,000 compared with the end of March, figures showed. Most of the increase came from a rise of more than 24,000 missing migrants who have been refused permission to stay in the UK but whose whereabouts are unknown, referred to as the migration refusal pool.

The outstanding cases also included the 95,000 in the so-called controlled archives, effectively the backlog of immigration and asylum cases, which the UKBA has pledged to close by the end of the year. But to do this it will have to assess all these cases in three months when only 29,000 were removed from the archive in a year, the report said.

"We are concerned that the closure of the controlled archives may result in a significant number of people being granted effective amnesty in the United Kingdom, irrespective of the merits of their case," the MPs said.

While many of the people in the backlog of cases will have already left the country, "we are not convinced that the agency's limited checking regime will have picked up all of the applicants who remain in the country", the MPs went on. "For this reason we are concerned that the final checks made on these cases should be thorough and that they should not be rushed to meet an artificial deadline."

The report also questioned the consequences for both the individual and the taxpayer if applicants whose cases are closed are then found in the UK. "We are particularly interested to find out whether any such individuals would be offered an amnesty or if they would have to start their asylum or immigration application again," the MPs said.

Immigration Minister Mark Harper said: "This report raises some legitimate concerns but we are taking robust action and it is working. Every day it gets harder to live illegally in the UK - we are tracking people down and taking action against them."

A UK Border Agency spokeswoman added that there was "absolutely no question of an amnesty". She added: "If any of these individuals come to light in the future, we will take action."